1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shift lever apparatus for an automatic transmission in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicle which has an automatic transmission, an engine can be started only when a shift-lever position of "parking" or "neutral" is selected. Accordingly, whenever a vehicle is driven after the starting of the engine, a shifting operation is made from the shift-lever position of "parking" or "neutral" to another shift-lever position such as "drive".
During this shifting operation, brakes of the vehicle such as a hand brake or a foot brake are applied, and after completion of the shifting operation, the brakes are released and subsequently the vehicle is driven.
In order to secure steps of the above-described procedures, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 20343/1987 proposes an apparatus in which a position of the shift lever cannot be changed from a "parking" or "neutral" position to another shift-lever position such as "driving" when the brakes are not applied.
But this conventional apparatus has disadvantages due to many sensors and a control apparatus for generating output signals on the basis of input signals from the sensors to an actuator in order to control the operation of the actuator to hold the position of the shift lever, thereby increasing the expense of the apparatus.